Birse Rail - Health and Safety

Birse Rail’s commitment to safety is encapsulated in its ‘Zero Tolerance’ attitude towards unsafe working.

The Zero Tolerance message is unambiguous: ensure the job is done right first time with minimal risk to all persons, equipment and the environment. Zero Tolerance is built on the philosophy that all accidents are preventable and are an unacceptable aspect of the organisations work.

The success of the Zero Tolerance approach is clearly demonstrated by Birse Rail’s consistently low Accident Frequency Rate (AFR).

The Zero Tolerance culture has ensured that this level of performance has become the norm for the organisation and led, in 2008, to Birse Rail being awarded a “Commended” award in the Engineering Construction Sector category at the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards – the highest accolade awarded to any railway civil engineering contractor.

David Rawlins, RoSPA Awards Manager, commented: “Birse Rail has shown a commitment to protecting the health and well-being of its employees and others. We hope other businesses and organisations will follow its lead and strive for continuous improvement in health and safety management.”

Birse Rail is also playing an active part in the ongoing development of better working practices within the railway industry. It is a member of recognised industry bodies such as the Infrastructure Safety Liaison Group (ISLG) and the Project Safety Leadership Group (PSLG) working towards the continuous improvement of safety on the railways.